New Study Argues that LSAT Limits Black Student Enrollment in Law School

The use of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is effectively limiting the enrollment of Black students at law schools, a new study found.

A recently published study in the Florida International University Law Review titled “The Marginalization of Black Aspiring Lawyers,” found that law schools offered 1,000 admissions to approximately 1,960 Black applicants during the 2016-2017 admissions cycle, compared to 1,204 admission offers to white applicants. It noted that 49 percent of Black school applicants were not admitted to any law school during that admissions cycle, and was reportedly “the highest shut-out rate among all racial and ethnic groups.”

“This paper argues that Black people who aspire to be lawyers endure marginalized existences, which span the law school admission process through the matriculation process and into the law school classroom,” wrote Aaron N. Taylor, the executive director of AccessLex Center for Legal Education Excellence, who conducted the…

Subscribe to The North Star

Subscribe for $10 a month to gain access to this and many more articles from The North Star.